


Smile Because It Happened

by Cyane (orphan_account)



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Brotherly Affection, Canon-Typical Violence, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Past Abuse, Prompt Fill, Rescue Missions, Short & Sweet, Starvation, Team as Family, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-21 23:50:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7410064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Cyane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And Gray saw Natsu's stupid ass smile, and he burst into tears because <em>he was going to be okay.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Smile Because It Happened

To be frank, Gray wasn't doing all that well.

His wrists were chained above him, cuffed to the freezing walls to his right and left. Like he was on a cross. There was rope securing his dangling ankles together, (courtesy of his hosts after he gave a particularly nasty kick to the balls) as well as his mouth, which was bleeding profusely. 

He supposed that he deserved it. They warned him that if he didn't 'behave', they had worse things than duct tape to slap across his mouth, and he continued being a smartass, so they slapped a ring of rope across it. It hurt much more than tape.

It didn't help that he was constantly being put on some sort of pain-enhancing drug that made every scratch on his body burn like fire. Oh, and it didn't help that they had taken away his beautiful coat and his _goddamn_ necklace that he wasn't supposed to take off, and they had stuffed him in these awful white sweatpants that were literally stained completely red with his blood. Oh, also something that didn't help: he was hooked to an IV that was feeding him somehow, but it was barely doing anything and over the last three weeks of being stuck in that room, he was getting rather skeletal.

One more thing; he was also freezing. 

Which was probably the worst of them all. (With maybe the exception of his necklace being stolen.)

The drug they were giving him was obviously doing something to his magic, because so far he felt too nauseous to even feel for his abilities, and he was shivering so badly... well, the last time he had been this cold was either when he was looking at his parents gravestones for the first time, or the first day of training with Ur. 

He was _freezing_. 

Never again would he mock Lucy for hiding in Horologium, or Erza for requipping with warmer armor during the Winter, or Wendy for wearing huge coats, or Happy for carrying heating lacrimas, or or or or or _or or or or_

Honestly, Gray was barely holding onto sanity. The only thing keeping him going was the fact that the last time he had seen Natsu, the smug bastard had told him they needed to go on a job sometime together, just the two of them. 

He really wanted to go on that job, and he couldn't go on that job if he was insane, dead, or seriously injured. So he held on.

Besides, he knew that his team was coming for him.

Of course they were.

They were.

They _were_.

Really.

**FT~FT~FT~FT**

Natsu was absolutely furious when he found the dark guild that had captured Gray.

Furious wasn't even the right word for what he felt. He felt all the rage of a dragon, of Igneel, of fire and _everything_ \-- he just really wanted to get Gray back. For the last weeks he had been exploring Magnolia and Fiore and neighboring areas left to right, up and down, through and through, and finally, on a beach in another city, he found the dark guild he was looking for.

Shadow Crest. 

The guild mark was a bat with two straight lines hanging down from the feet that twisted into a knot. Natsu remembered that because he saw it right before Gray was taken down, laying right on the shoulder of a dark wizard with red curly hair and dark eyes.

So he found the guild hall, and of course, being Natsu Dragneel, he decimated the entire building and nearly destroyed everyone inside of it. He made sure not to kill anyone, because although he felt fury fueling rage and destruction and anger, he was still a member of Fairy Tail, and he knew that Gray and Gramps and everyone wouldn't agree with him if he did. Besides, he wasn't too fond of death.

(Even so, he made sure to knock out a certain redheaded, dark-eyed wizard a bit more painfully than the others.)

And then he found the basement. It was eerily quiet, although there were torches lit so Natsu knew there had to be _someone_ down there. Once he made his way through the underground hallway, it led him to a very small, freezing cold room.

"Gray!" 

His voice cracked at the very sight of his best friend. Gray was scratched and torn and bloody and bleeding and he was far too pale and thin to the point of _death_. He looked exhausted and frail and yet he had never looked so young and vulnerable. His normally sharp eyes were a shade lighter than normal, unfocused and hazed, and his hair had grown a full two inches longer than it should be.

Two inches. 

Not much, but it still made a difference to Natsu.

And despite seeing his bleeding, chafed and rubbed-raw wrists, his foaming, torn mouth, and the way he took much longer than it should've to notice Natsu, the dragonslayer couldn't help but break into a huge, shit-eating grin at the sight of him, because it was _Gray_ and he had _found him_. And now they could go home.

**FT~FT~FT~FT**

Gray had been expecting his 'keeper', who gave him daily doses of the drugs and kept him sore. He wasn't expecting pink hair. He wasn't expecting a white and black striped scarf or the blissful warmth that radiated off of his body.

And Gray saw Natsu's stupid ass smile, and he burst into tears because _he was going to be okay_. Natsu was here, to save him, just like he knew he would be, and everything was going to be alright. 

"Gray!" 

His eyes came into focus, slowly, and he felt the tears overwhelm him. Happy tears, sad tears. Just tears at the sight of Natsu's smile, his two ridiculously pointed fangs, the way that the cell seemed to brighten at the very essence of his beaming grin. It was so Natsu. It was so... Fairy Tail. Safety. 

Natsu ran forward and carefully tore off the rope-gag, keeping his eyes on Gray's face while he fumbled with the rope around his ankles. 

So Gray decided that he had held on for long enough, and he slumped back into the chains and smiled, even if it was a weak, broken smile, even if it was cracked and gushing blood and foam and drool because he hadn't done so in so long. Even if after all the torture, he really wasn't feeling so smiley. 

"'knew you wouldn't f'r'get 'bout me..." He managed to rasp out. 

Natsu choked on a relieved sob. "Of course not, you fucking idiot!"

"That's good... 'cos you 'n me have 'nother job to go on... you owe me..." 

As Natsu completely ripped the metal loops surrounding his wrists off the wall, Gray slid to the floor, save be caught into Natsu's waiting arms. "Christ, what did they _do_ to you?"

Gray chuckled wearily. "'rugs... k'let's go home now?" 

"Of course, of course-" Natsu said, scooping Gray so he could carry him bridal-style, and began running to the exit.

**FT~FT~FT~FT**

He was halfway to the guild hall doors when Gray suddenly grabbed onto his scarf and pulled, nearly choking him. His dark eyes were wild and wet with tears, and suddenly he looked very, very afraid.

"Wait! W't- waitwait!" 

Natsu skidded to a halt. "What is it?"

"They took... they took my coat and th' necklace... I c'n't leave it behind!" He was nearly wailing, and the sound broke Natsu's heart, which was on fire again. _Fucking- they took his necklace? Gray never takes that thing off.. it's special to him, like my scarf is to me! How fucking dare they?!_

"Don't worry, Gray, I'm getting it back. Do you have any idea who took it?"

The nearly half-asleep man in his arms shrugged. "Naww... but it's in there... I th'nk..." With a shaking hand he motioned towards what looked like the guild master's office. It was crumbling at the seams after Natsu's attack, so he quickly rushed in, gently sat Gray down, and searched every cupboard and cabinet until he found a drawer with the necklace, and inside the dresser he found Gray's long white coat. 

He wasn't sure if Gray had ever looked that relieved. 

**FT~FT~FT~FT**

Gray was cold.

That much was obvious. He was shivering and shaking and his breath was visible even to Natsu. So he turned up the warmth in his hands, tried to fight back confusion until later, and kept running back towards home. 

**FT~FT~FT~FT**

They were nearing the guild when Natsu realized that Gray's sweats he had been wearing weren't actually red, they had just been soaked in his own blood.

**FT~FT~FT~FT**

Gray was laying in a medi-bed, sleeping soundly.

Gray was safe.

Gray would recover. 

Natsu wasn't sure if he had ever felt that relieved. And Gray smiled as he slept, so Natsu smiled, too, just looking down at him. Once the drugs got out of his system, and his wounds and injuries completely healed, they would go on a mission together, and Natsu would tell Gray something secret.

He cared about the knucklehead.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, okay, lame ending.
> 
> But I wasn't even planning on making it that long and I couldn't sleep without making sure Gray got back home safe and sound. And he got his necklace back and his lovely, wonderful coat.


End file.
